Apgar test
The Apgar score was devised in 1952 by Virginia Apgar as a simple and repeatable method to
quickly and summarily assess the health of newborn children.
The Apgar score is determined by evaluating the newborn baby on five simple criteria on a scale from zero to two and summing up the five values thus obtained. The resulting Apgar score ranges from zero to 10.
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Score 0
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Score 1
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Score 2
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Heart rate
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absent
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<100
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>100
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Respiration
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absent
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weak or irregular
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strong
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Muscle tone
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none
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some flexion
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active movement
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Reflex irritability
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no response
to stimulation
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grimace/feeble cry
when stimulated
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sneeze/cough/pulls away
when stimulated
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Skin color
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blue all over
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blue at extremities
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normal
The five criteria of the Apgar score
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The test is generally done at 1 and 5 minutes after birth, and may be repeated later if the score is, and remains, low. Scores below 3 are generally regarded as critically low, with 4 – 7 fairly low and over 7 generally normal.
Low scores at the one minute test may require medical attention, but are not a an indication of longer term problems, particularly if there is an improvement by the stage of the five minute test. Certainly if the Apgar score remains below 3 for the longer periods 10 minutes, 15 mins, 30 mins etc., there is a risk that the child will suffer longer term neurological damage. There is also a small but significant increase in the risk of cerebral palsy. However, the purpose of the Apgar test is to determine quickly whether a newborn needs immediate medical care; it was not designed to make long–term predictions on a child's health.
Some ten years after the initial publication, the acronym APGAR was coined in the US as a mnemonic learning aid: Appearance (skin color), Pulse (heart rate), Grimace (reflex irritability), Activity (muscle tone), and Respiration.
Literature
See also
Referenced By
List of tests
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